T here are a lot of positives and negatives stemming from the fact that our area's leaders — members of the village and town boards and other elected officials — consist of community members and ordinary citizens who live and work here just like the rest of us. This helps our leaders better understand us and our needs. It inspires compassion and empathy in them when we've got problems that need fixing. Because our neighbors and our friends work to keep our town and village running, we're assured that they're aware of how their decisions affect us all. And these officials know all about the community they serve, and the history that makes our area great. But it's that very same knowledge of the past that's holding our leaders back, and what proves to be their greatest fault.

Obviously, those who ignore past mistakes are doomed to repeat them, but there ought to be another saying: "Those who can't move beyond mistakes of the past can never make history." The decision-makers in our local government are stuck playing the blame-game about who did or didn't do what when, or who said what to whom, or how the town didn't do this enough, or how the village didn't pay that enough, or a thousand other things...

…enough already.

A good case of amnesia would probably do this whole community good — it would give everyone a chance to forget the mistakes, missteps, and misfortunes of times past, and allow them to focus on the here and the now, and how to help each other move forward. You can tell that there's a problem when a simple — and clearly inaccurate — Times Herald Record article by Paul Brooks can set town and village officials at each others' throats, as it seemed to at the recent joint municipality meeting at town hall. Is Mayor Kaplan right for wanting the town to have helped pay for town-wide programs and events within the village's borders? Is Pat Althouse right for wanting to show all the many great services the town has done for the village? Yes — they are both absolutely right. There is no denying that both of these people who are dedicated to helping Ellenville and Wawarsing are completely right and totally justified in their feelings and opinions.

But does it matter? Does it really matter that they're right about the past's inequities and inequalities?

No, it doesn't.

This community is full of excellent and devoted public servants who really want to see this area live up to its full potential, and shine as a jewel of the Hudson Valley. But when articles like Brooks's travesty of agenda-oriented journalism appear, we should stand together and show the rest of the region that there's more to Ellenville and Wawarsing than bad news and bad blood. We really are a lot better than the rest of the valley gives us credit for — let's start acting like it.

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